In the wake of the global financial crisis, some have dubbed China and the United States the G2, signifying their centrality in global economics and politics. Even so, the relationship between China and the United States is rife with new tensions. Trade and currency challenges persist, complicated by domestic politics and differing approaches to security issues.

In its annual conference to honor the memory of eminent China scholar Michel Oksenberg, Stanford's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center gathered distinguished policymakers and analysts to examine colliding—and overlapping—interests in U.S.-China relations.

The conference was kicked off by Jeffrey Bader, special assistant to the president and senior director for East Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, who began by exploring the possibility of productive, stable relations amid values that appear to differ vastly. In support of this idea, Bader pointed to successive American presidents, going back to Richard Nixon, who found points of commonality with China. China poses a different challenge today, he argued, than even a decade ago, as its influence has grown alongside its commercial and economic presence. The Obama administration, Bader explained, has sought China's support on key issues and pursued partnership within the context of a broader Asian policy. He concluded by saying that China's rise is not intrinsically incompatible with American interest, but that does not preclude ongoing competition.

A panel chaired by Jean C. Oi, director of the Stanford China Program, next looked at competition and cooperation in the U.S.-China economic relationship. Despite the dangers of speculative bubbles and weakened export markets, the prospects for sustained economic growth in China remain very good, argued Nicholas Lardy, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Robert Kapp, former president of the U.S.-China Business Council, explored growing challenges facing American business in China, exemplified by recent clashes over Internet censorship. Despite the U.S.-China clash at the Copenhagen global climate conference, Stanford Law Professor Thomas Heller contended that behind the scenes global consensus on this issue has advanced.

Points of tension in the security relationship were the focus of a panel chaired by Amb. Michael H. Armacost, the Shorenstein Distinguished Fellow. China-Taiwan tensions have improved, but Smith College's Steve Goldstein cautioned that Taiwan's policies could shift again, particularly if the promised economic benefits of improved ties do not materialize. China and the United States must likewise manage challenging allies in North Korea and Japan respectively, said Alan Romberg, director of the East Asia Program at the Henry L. Stimson Center. Finally, the United States and China have both congruent and conflicting interests at stake in dealing with the situations in Iran and Pakistan, Stanford's Thomas Fingar, the Oksenberg/Rohlen Distinguished Fellow at FSI, told the gathering.

"North Korea is a real country with real people getting on with their lives," said John Everard, former British ambassador to North Korea, to a full-house audience at a Korean Studies Program (KSP) lunchtime seminar on October 8, 2010. In his introduction of Everard, David Straub, KSP's associate director, noted the lack of reliable information about North Korea. Official government information is limited and everyday life is perhaps even less understood. Everard, who served in North Korea from 2006-2008, offered a firsthand perspective of ordinary people living inside North Korea, giving a very human dimension to a country often regarded only as a closed military state.

The darker side of life in North Korea is poverty, which is more acute now than in earlier decades. Everard stated that North Korea was ahead of South Korea economically until the 1970s and that the universal healthcare system put in place by Kim Il-sung was initially effective. The World Health Organization now provides most medical care in North Korea. Agriculture, once mechanized, has largely reverted to animal power and hunger, though not at famine level as it was in the 1990s, is still a major issue.

Leisure and social time also play a part of life in North Korea. People in Pyongyang frequent coffee shops and throughout the country neighbors gather for lively games of chess. Everard explained that daily activities like talking with family and friends are just as much a part of life in North Korea as they are in other parts of the world.

A bigger difference in North Korean society is the degree to which piety to the leading regime and service to the government is significantly integrated into life. Newly married couples, for example, will wear badges bearing images of Kim Il-sung pinned to their formal wedding clothes and lay flowers before a statue of the deceased leader. More than such customs though, Everard noted, North Korea's military service requirement has the biggest impact on people. Not only is the duration of eight to ten years significantly longer than the required one to two years of most countries, military life is also very strenuous.

Social attitudes in North Korea are changing, as are attitudes toward the outside world. Employees from North Korea now work for South Korean companies within the successful Kaesong Industrial Zone, which opened in 2004. Foreign goods, such as clothing, have also made their way into North Korea. People, suggested Everard, are beginning to modestly aspire to own more material possessions, like bicycles, and to learn more about the customs and cultures of other parts of the world.

Everard spoke about North Korea's relations with other countries. China has a natural interest in the stability of North Korea-its neighbor to the northeast-for its own welfare and it therefore supports it economically and politically. Despite a large Russian Federation embassy in Pyongyang, relations with Russia are not as strong as they were with the old Soviet Union, Everard said. Although the United States is officially regarded as an aggressor and an enemy, most people Everard met with did not express animosity toward Americans. "There is an openness toward warm relations with Americans if political relations improve," he said.

Everard described the curiosity expressed by North Koreans who asked him about life in the United States-about everything ranging from music to social conditions. Audience members-from the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, and numerous other countries-asked him an equally broad range of questions, demonstrating that perhaps there is an equal amount of curiosity and willingness to connect both inside and outside of North Korea.

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John Everard is KSP's 2010-2011 Pantech Fellow. The David Straub, generously funded by the Pantech Group of Korea, are intended to cultivate a diverse international community of scholars and professionals committed to and capable of grappling with challenges posed by developments in Korea.

FSI's 2010 Fall Orientation welcomed faculty, staff, researchers, and friends of the institute to the new academic year and highlighted the institute's diverse research collaborations, educational programs, and policy engagement.  Presentations on display and in live video offered highlights of the current work of FSI centers and programs on many of the most challenging issues of the day. In his welcoming remarks, FSI Director Coit Blacker emphasized the interdisciplinary, cross-campus nature of FSI's work and thanked the FSI community for their many contributions to new knowledge and new approaches to many of the most pressing issues on today's global agenda.

This year's Orientation attracted the largest turnout to date. On continual display was a slide show capturing research of FSI centers and programs in the field and multi-disciplinary work here at the institute, along with highlights of FSI conferences, lectures, and policy endeavors compiled by FSI's Nora Sweeny.

Among the highlights were the following displays:

• A presentation by the Center for International Security and Cooperation on the center's research, writing, policy influence, and Track II Diplomacy
• A display of the many books published by the Walter Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center showing the range of economic, political, and regional issues addressed by APARC scholars, and a photo slideshow of recent events and publications demonstrating the breadth of faculty work bridging the U.S. and Asia
• A presentation by The Europe Center, newly launched and housed jointly in FSI and the Division of International and Comparative Area Studies, featuring major research areas, visiting scholars, publications, and notable events
• A presentation by Stanford Health Policy capturing its multidisciplinary work in medicine, law, business, economics, engineering, and psychology
•  A presentation by the Ford Dorsey Program in International Policy Studies, a two-year interdisciplinary Master's program, which captured the IPS practicum, scholarly concentrations, internships, and careers
  
• A presentation by the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development featuring its work on environmental and policy research employing state of the art methodology to examine such issues as renewable energy, natural gas markets, national oil companies, low-income energy services, and climate change policy
• A presentation by the Program on Food Security and the Environment which addresses hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation. FSE showcased its current research on topics such as solar electrification, food and nutrition security, climate change and conflicts, and evolving U.S. energy policy, as well as its upcoming series on Food Policy, Food Security, and the Environment
• A presentation by the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education, which develops multi-disciplinary curriculum materials on international themes reflecting FSI scholarship. Recent educational projects include a three-part series examining U.S.-South Korean relations, Uncovering North Korea, and Inter-Korean Relations; and a collaboration with TeachAIDS, which works to address and overcome the social and cultural challenges related to HIV/AIDS prevention education through materials offered via the internet and CDs in several languages, http://teachaids.org
• A presentation featuring the Stanford Global Gateway, a comprehensive directory of Stanford in the world
• A presentation previewing the vision and mission of the Stanford Center at Peking University, opening Fall 2011

Other highlights included the presentations prepared by Stanford students who worked in the field this past summer. One group worked in China, developing a survey on nutrition and anemia and their effect on learning, with FSI's Scott Rozelle, Director of the Rural Education Action Program. A second group helped Dr. Paul Wise, professor of pediatrics and Stanford Health Policy core faculty member, evaluate prenatal care in the rural highlands of Guatemala.

 

In an op-ed in The Korea Times, Gi-Wook Shin discusses North Korea’s new leadership under Kim Jong-un. He suggests that this period of transition in North Korea might offer an opportunity for the U.S. and South Korea to attempt to stabilize their relationships with North Korea and make significant headway in the North Korean denuclearization process. He contends, also, that the stability of the new North Korean regime may act as a positive element in the promotion of peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia as a whole.

In recent weeks, questions have abounded about the succession of North Korea's leadership, especially about Kim Jong-un, the youngest son and heir-apparent of current leader Kim Jong-il. David Straub, associate director of the Korean Studies Program, spoke with NPR's Mike Shuster about the scant bits of information on the younger Kim--much of it rumor--floating about.

Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of current North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, has just been elevated to the rank of military general along with five other individuals, causing further speculation that he is set to become his father's successor. Sang-Hun Choe, 2010-2011 Fellow in Korean Studies, contributed reporting to a recent New York Times article about the succession, which also features commentary by Daniel C. Sneider, Shorenstein APARC's associate director for research.